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l G.D. BURT0N. ART OP AND APPARATUS POR ELECTRIC DYBING AND SHRINKING.

N0'l 557,326. K Patented Mar. .31, 1896;

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ANDRDN BLRAN UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. BURTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN J. MOORE, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, AND JAMES S. MCOABE AND "WALTER A. BYRNE, OF AUBURN, NEV YORK.

ART F AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRIC DYEING AND SHRINKING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,326, dated March .31, 1896.

Application led February 25, 1895. Serial No. 539,630. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE DEXTER BUE- TON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk,

in the State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Electric Dyeing and Shrinking, of Which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric dyeing,

1o in which the dyeable object is subjected to the action of a dye liquor and an electric current passed through said liquor, the shrinkable fabric being also shrunk by the operation.

The objects of the invention are to provide a convenient apparatus for electric dyeing and shrinking which will not absorb the electric current nor the dye liquor, and which can be easily cleaned, so that the dye liquor 2o may be changed without the color of one bath affecting another, and which will absorb and retain heat, so as to assist in maintaining a proper temperature of the dye liquor after it has been heated to the required degree.

2 5 In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of this dyeing apparatus adapted for passing a dyeable fabric twice through the electrolyzed dye liquor. Fig. 2 represents a vertical lon- 3o gtudinal section of an apparatus for dyeing and shrinking and is adapted to pass the fabric once through the liquor. Fig. 3 represeits an end elevation of a pair of submerged ro ls.

l3 5 The same reference-numerals indicate the same parts in all the figures.

Any suitable dye-vat, as 10, constitutes a part of this apparatus. This vat may be constructed of wood, earthenware or other non- 4o conductive material. It is preferably constructed of a body of earthenware 11, which is a non-conductor of electricity, and is provided on its interior with a lining 12 composed of porcelain, which is also a non-conductor of 45 electricity and a non-absorber of the dye liquor. When constructed in this form, the

tank retains heat for a long time, and when the dye liquor is heated to the desired temperature the tank composed of this material serves to prevent loss of heat and assists in 5o maintaining the temperature desired.

Electrodes 2O and 30 are disposed apart from each other in the dye-Vat. The anode is 4composed of carbon'ora carbon composition, such as or similar to that used for car- 5 5 bon pencils for electric lights or carbon commutator-brushes for dynamos. The cathode is composed of lead or other suitable conductive material. For an ordinary dye-vat of, say, four feet long, eighteen inches wide 6o and twenty inches deep these carbon electrodes will be about twelve inches square, more or less, and one inch thick, more or less, and the lead electrodes will be fourteen inches square, more or less, and one-eighth of an 65 inch thick, more or less. A conductor connects the electrode 20, which constitutes the anode, with the dynamo, electric service-wire or other suitable source of electricity, and a conductor connects the electrode 30, which 7o constitutes the cathode, with the negative pole of said electric source or a negative service-wire.

A set of non-conductive rolls and 7l are disposed in the tank for guiding the ribbon or fabric to be dyed or shrunk. These rolls are preferably composed of porcelain, as that material is not aected either by the electric current, the dye liquor, or the heat of the liquor. 8o

A set of guide-rolls is disposed at one end of the tank and a set of guide-rolls at the other end thereof, and winding-reels and are disposed near the opposite ends of the tank. 85

The material to be dyed maybe alternately passed through the tank from one reel to the other and back again.

In Fig. 1 an extra set of porcelain rolls 86 and 81 are disposed in the tank, and a sup- 9o plementary pair of guide-rolls 85 and 86 are disposed above the tank in a plane midway between the pair of rolls 70 and 71 and the pair of rolls 86 and 81. The reels are provided with cranks 101 and 110, by which they 95 may be rotated.

A dye liquor 120, of any suitable composition or character, is disposed in the tank 10,

and the electrodes are in contact with said liquor. As an instance, I will state a dye liquor for peacock blue, to wit: twenty gallons of water, one and one-half ounces of Prussian blue, two ounces of citric acid, one and one-half pounds of Glauber salt, and one and onevhalf ounces of sulfuric acid. These proportions may be varied and the ingredients altered to suit different cases. The specific gravity should be in excess of that of Watersay about 1.125", more or less. An electric current of from sixty to one hundred amperes, more or less, and from one hundred and twenty to two hundred and twenty volts, more or less, may be employed.

In the use of this apparatus a dye liquor of the desired composition is placed in the tank 10 and the fabric to be dyed is passed through the dye liquor and at the same time the electric current is passed through the liquor. The fabric is wound from one reel, as 100, to the other reel, as 110, and passes between the guiderolls above the dye liquor and between the rolls submerged therein. The current agi tates the fabric and the liquor, and the fabric is quickly penetrated by the dye liquor.

In the dyeing of some colors, such as brown or black, it is necessary to heat the dye liquor, and this is done before the submerging of the fabric, preferably by the passage of the electric current through the liquor, and when so heated the walls of the tank, when constructed as herein shown, assist in maintaining the proper temperature. The heating of the dye liquor may be done more quickly by the use of electrodes, both composed of lead, and then one of said electrodes may be withdrawn and a carbon electrode substituted. A current of sixty amperes and two hundred and twenty volts will heat a dye liquor of twenty gallons to the boiling-point in about ten minutes.

Chamois-skin and undressed leather are quickly dyed throughout their substance by these means.

I claim as my inventionl. In a dyeing apparatus, the combination of a dye-vat, a dye liquor therein, two electrodes disposed in contact with said liquor and connected with opposite electric poles, the positive electrode being composed of carbon and the negative of lead.

2. In a dyeing apparatus, the combination of a dye-vat, a dye liquor therein, electrodes disposed in contact with said dye liquor, and connected with opposite electric poles, the anode being composed of carbon and the cathode of lead and a non-conducting roll disposed in said dye liquor and adapted to serve as a guide for the fabric being dyed.

3. In a dyeing apparatus, the combination of a dye-vat, a dye liquor therein, electrodes disposed in contact with said dye liquor, and connected with opposite electric poles, the anode being composed of carbon and the cathode oflead, and a non-conducting roll composed of porcelain disposed in said dye liquor and adapted to serve as a guide for the fabric being dyed.

4. In an apparatus for electric dyeing, the combination of a dye-vat composed of nonabsorbing non-conductive material, a dye liquor therein, and two electrodes disposed in contact with said liquor and connected with opposite electric poles the anode being composed of carbon and the cathode of lead.

GEO. D. BURTON.

lVitnesses F. C. SoMEs, S. M. Donsnrr. 

